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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

News can be fake or real, depending on what you choose to believe.

Salleh Said Keruak

I’ve said this before and I will say it again – verify before you vilify your source of news information. It is very unfortunate to know that many people still cling on to mistaken beliefs and theories that could even be decades old!

Fabricated news stories and irresponsible online news sources spread misinformation in order to mislead and/or make money when others click on the site or article. This makes fake news much more insidious than real news.

According to an analysis by BuzzFeed, a leading independent digital media company, hoaxes about the US politics were among the top-performing fake news content on Facebook in 2016. BuzzFeed News Media Editor, Craig Silverman said that twenty-three of the 50 top-performing fake news hoaxes found on Facebook, were focused on US politics.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addresses the proliferation of fake news on his Facebook account, “The bottom line is: we take misinformation seriously. Our goal is to connect people with the stories they find most meaningful, and we know people want accurate information.”

In that same post, Zuckerberg shares how the Facebook community can help Facebook understand what is fake and what is not, as well as outlining some of the projects that are underway to minimize misinformation.

In using social media and other communication platforms, we need to be responsible users, so don’t be too quick to hit the Share, Forward or RT button without verifying the piece of news.